Innovative Tokyo architect Yoshiharu Tsukamoto to lecture at Syracuse Architecture

Innovative Tokyo architect Yoshiharu Tsukamoto to lecture at Syracuse ArchitectureMarch 04, 2009Elaine Wackerowedwacker@syr.edu

Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, co-founder of Tokyo’s Atelier Bow-Wow, one of this generation’s most unique architectural practices, will speak at the Syracuse University School of Architecture on Tuesday, March 17, at 5 p.m. in Slocum Hall Auditorium. His lecture, “Architectural Behaviorology,” is free and open to the public.

Tsukamoto founded Atelier Bow-Wow with Momoyo Kaijima in 1992. The firm has gained international respect for its ability to mix serious urban research with inventive approaches to sculpture and design. Noted as a leader in site- and use-specific design approach, Bow-Wow playfully explores the use and function of space within urban environments.

Bow-Wow re-evaluates the current architectural character of Tokyo in an attempt to achieve a more responsive urbanism through the adaptability and mutative qualities of architecture. It has used its founders’ research to uniquely embrace the complex logic of the city, engaging in a practice they call “lively space,” celebrating the “accidents” of a site rather than controlling or sterilizing it. Their small houses in Tokyo are well-designed residences on small sites that are integrated into the urban landscape. In 1999, Tsukamoto designed an 86-square-meter residence called Mini House in Tokyo and demonstrated the potential of small lots.

Born in Kanagawa, Japan, Tsukamoto received his doctorate from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in engineering in 1994 and previously studied at Ecole d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville from 1987-88. He has taught at the Tokyo Institute of Technology as an associate professor, at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and was a visiting associate professor at UCLA. Tsukamoto is the author of several books, including “Graphic Anatomy” (Toto, 2007), “Bow-Wow from Post Bubble City” (Inax, 2006), “Pet Architecture Guide Book” (World Photo Press, 2001) and “Made in Tokyo” (Kajima Institude Publishing Co., 2001). His work has been included in major exhibitions around the globe over the past decade and won numerous awards, including the NAX Design Competition Cooper Prize and Tokyo Housing Award.

Syracuse University School of Architecture is the fourth-oldest program in the United States and is consistently rated among the top architecture schools in the country. The school’s undergraduate program was recently ranked fourth in the nation by DesignIntelligence.

For more information visit http://soa.syr.edu.